The morning sun stread into the Pedro estate, and for the first ti since Amara’s return, the atmosphere felt light. Madam Pedro bead as she watched Amara handle her morning coffee with a newfound glow.
"I haven’t seen you look this at peace in a decade," Madam Pedro said, though her eyes held a hint of regret. "There is an urgent matter at our overseas branch that needs my attention. I don’t want to leave you right now, but I have to go."
She reached across the table, squeezing Amara’s hand. "I hope that by the ti I return, we won’t just be talking about business. We’ll be planning a wedding with Julian."
Amara flushed, a small smile playing on her lips.
"And please," Madam Pedro added, her voice turning serious. "Call once you’ve spoken to Amira. I hate this distance between my daughters."
"Mother, Amira and I are grown," Amara said gently, walking her mother toward the car that would take her to the airport. "We’ll find a way to fix our differences. Don’t worry about us."
With her mother gone, the weight of the entire Pedro Empire fell onto Amara’s shoulders. She stepped into the main office, her heels clicking against the marble floor. She was in charge of everything now, the shipping lines, the tech firms, the real estate.
But as she sat behind the massive desk, her eyes drifted to her phone.
She hadn’t heard a word from Amira. No angry texts, no social dia rants, no demands for money. It was as if her sister had vanished into thin air.
Did she actually leave the country? Amara wondered. Did she finally realize there’s nothing left for her here?
She picked up the phone and dialed Amira’s private number.
"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable or out of the service area..."
Amara stared at the screen. A cold shiver traced down her spine. In her world, Amira’s silence ant either she had left the country or was planning sothing. It didn’t an she had given up, it ant she was hiding in the shadows, waiting for the perfect mont to strike.
---
The private lounge slled of expensive whiskey and desperation. Seb sat slumped on the velvet sofa, his tie undone, eyes bloodshot. A mountain of empty bottles stood like a monunt to his failure.
"Will you stop drinking?" Demain snapped, pacing the room. "Seb, look at yourself. You’ve lost the company. You have no child. You’re divorced. You’re broke! What is the plan?"
Seb let out a dark, jagged laugh and took another long gulp. "I’m not broke. I still have foreign investnts I can pull... I can start over. I don’t care about the ’Creed Legacy’ anymore. I don’t care about children." He slamd the glass down, his voice trembling. "I just want my Amara. I don’t want to live in a world where she isn’t mine."
"Whatever," King sighed, already leaning back with a woman on each arm. "Girls, make my friend forget his life for a night."
King gestured for two beautiful won to approach Seb. They slid onto the sofa beside him, their perfus cloying and thick. "Hey, handso," one whispered, her hand sliding onto his shoulder. "We can make you forget everything."
Seb turned his head slowly. In the dim, hazy light, the alcohol played tricks on his mind. The woman’s face shifted, twisting into the smug, lying face of Elara.
"Elara," Seb growled, his voice a death rattle."I’ll kill you!"
Before anyone could react, he lunged, his hands clamping around the girl’s neck.
"Stop! Leave ! I’m Sarah, not Elara!" the girl shrieked, her eyes wide with terror.
Demain and King rushed forward, prying Seb’s fingers off the sobbing woman. "Get out!" Seb roared as the girls scrambled out of the room. "You’re not Amara! Get out!"
"Seb, you need to pull it together," King said, fixing his jacket. "Look, I heard Elara is staying in so run-down apartnt with Seren. If you’re that lonely, you could try again with her. She’s still got the looks, right?"
Seb’s eyes narrowed, a lethal coldness returning to his gaze.
"Say that again," Seb hissed, "and I’ll forget you were ever my friend."
King held up his hands, unbothered. "Fine, fine. If you’re done with her, can I have her? I’ve always had a thing for those legs. Since you’re throwing her out with the trash, I might as well have so fun with her."
Seb didn’t answer. He just stared into his glass, the realization sinking in that he had surrounded himself with people just as hollow as the life he had built with Elara.
Demain stared at King in pure shock. "Are you serious right now?"
Seb didn’t even look up from his drink. His voice was flat, deadened by the alcohol. "I don’t care who she spreads her legs for, King. That woman almost killed . She made lose everything: my company, my reputation, and Amara. You can go after her if you want, just don’t bring her near . I might actually kill her this ti."
"Well," King shrugged, scrolling through his phone with a smirk. "I just saw a picture of Julian and Amara on Instagram. I have to be honest, man... they look much better together than you two ever did."
"Hey!" Seb snapped, his eyes flashing with a brief spark of life. "Are you even my friend? How dare you say that?"
"Co on, man, I’m just telling the truth," King said, unfazed.
Demain stepped in, putting a firm hand on Seb’s shoulder. "Seb, drinking every day isn’t going to change the past. Amara loved you for ten years. Ten years of her life, Seb. She might not forgive you today, but that doesn’t an she’s stopped loving you. Rember how long it took you just to get her to notice you in the beginning?"
Demain was trying to snap Seb out of his depression, but his words did sothing else entirely. They planted a seed of dangerous hope.
Seb froze. The haze in his brain cleared for a split second. Ten years. Amara was a creature of habit. She liked consistency. She liked the people who stayed.
If he could just show her he was the man she used to love... if he could just be persistent enough, maybe she would co back.
He stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. He was still half-drunk, swaying slightly, but his eyes were fixed on the door.
"Where are you going?" Demain asked, startled by the sudden movent.
"Ho," Seb said, his voice thick but determined. "I’m going ho."
He wasn’t going ho to sleep. He was going ho to plan. If it took another ten years to win her back, he would do it. He didn’t care that Julian was in the way, in Seb’s mind, he was the only one who truly belonged by Amara’s side.
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